Meet Nephi Garcia, a 32-year-old fashion designer and father of three who lives in Orange, California.
尼菲·加西亚住在加州奥兰治,有三个孩子,是一名32岁的时装设计师。
Nephi, who has been designing for the past nine years, used to focus on high fashion. "But once I had kids, it started to feel like the industry wasn't really working for me."
尼菲当设计师九年了,曾经专攻高档时装。“但我一有了孩子之后,我发觉那个领域其实并不适合我。”
Last year, after the family planned a trip to Disney World, Nephi's 6-year-old daughter Lili asked him to make a costume she could wear to the park.
去年,尼菲一家打算去迪士尼乐园玩,他6岁的女儿莉莉想让他做迪士尼动画的衣服,好让她穿着去玩。
He made her a Fairy Godmother dress from some scrap fabrics, and she wore it on the family’s day trip. People instantly started freaking out. Some visitors even asked for her autograph. "The following day, I got an order for 10 costumes."
他用一些没用的布料做了一条《灰姑娘》里的仙女裙,莉莉就穿着去迪士尼乐园了。人们看到之后一下子就惊呆了,有些游客还想要她的亲笔签名。“第二天我就接到了10个戏服的订单。”
"Lili really loves the transformation dresses," he said. "And my son really loves to be dressed as the villains, especially Gaston."
“莉莉很喜欢换装,”他说,“我儿子就很喜欢穿成坏人,特别是加斯顿。”
To make this dreamy veiled vision a reality, Garcia used some wire and two fake birds. "I altered the birds' wings to make them look like they were flying," he said.
尼菲用了铁丝和两只假鸟,把飘逸的头纱带到了现实。“我把鸟翅膀改了一下,看起来就像真的在飞一样,”他说道。
It takes Garcia roughly four to six hours to make one of his children's costumes.
每做一件这种服装尼菲都要花四到六小时。
"I hate repeating designs, so I always try to vary each dress so that they're unique," he said.
“我不喜欢重复设计同样的衣服,所以每一件衣服我都试着变化一下,这样每一件都是独一无二的了。”
And Garcia makes *adult* costumes, too.
尼菲也做大人穿的童话服装。
"An adult dress can take anywhere from 12 to 48 hours of work," he said.
“一件大人穿的裙子可能要做12到48小时,”他说。
He prides himself on using high-endhigh-end materials.
衣服的高档布料是他引以为豪的地方。
Garcia uses a lot of organic silk and gets materials shipped from Europe. "I don’t charge cheaply, but I also don't deliver a cheap product," he said. His children’s costumes start at $600, and his adult looks begin at $1,800.
尼菲用了很多有机丝绸,他的材料都是从欧洲运来的。“我开价不便宜,但是一分钱一分货,”他说。他的儿童童话服装600美元起,而大人穿的至少要1800美元。
For Garcia, his requests start at home.
尼菲自己家里就需求不断。
"My daughter really wants me to make a frog costume that turns into a Tiana ballgown," he added. "And my wife suggested that I make a Princess Aurora dress that starts with her peasant dress, transforms into her pink dress, and then transforms into her blue dress."
“我女儿很想我做一件蒂安娜的青蛙礼服,我老婆建议我做欧若拉公主的服装,先是她的农妇装,然后变成粉红裙子,然后再变成蓝裙子。”
But his dream is to share them with the world.
但他的梦想是和全世界一起分享他的服装。
"I hope that someday I can make costumes for Broadway shows or live-action movies," Garcia said. "But I will never give up making pieces for people who are not in the industry — I like to give them quality outfits that they can't get anywhere else."
“我希望有一天我可以给百老汇或者真人表演的电影做戏服,”尼菲说,“但我会继续给普通的顾客做衣服,我喜欢给顾客做仅此一家的高品质服装。